IBM assists Singapore to improve maritime and port operations

IBM is collaborating with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to use analytics to improve port operations and manage maritime traffic. They will develop and test analytics-based technologies that can enhance operations as the port authority responds to growing levels of maritime traffic and increasing use of its facilities. 

Around 1,000 vessels call at the Port of Singapore at any one time, and there are about 130,000 vessel calls at the port every year. Thousands more ships use the straits for passage between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. This means there is a vessel arriving or leaving Singapore every two to three minutes.

The MPA expects its collaboration with IBM will ease potential traffic congestion and improve safety standards. During a two-year arrangement, they will create a unified platform to integrate real-time data from a variety of data sources and deliver results from predictive analysis. The platform will combine vessel positional data and weather information to report vessel passages in the port and around Singapore to reduce the risk of accidents.

Part of the service will use the IBM Traffic Prediction Tool to forecast vessel arrival timings and potential traffic congestion. The partnership also plans to develop new methods for monitoring events and detecting unusual behaviour of vessels. They will also develop ways to prevent illegal bunkering through fusion analytics, anomaly detection and data mining. These will use IBM’s incident detection module and the IBM System G to improve port security and safety.